A Mother's Love
by Daisy Wilson
Summary: Because secrets of this magnitude rarely stay secret
1. Chapter 1

A Mother's Love

A/N: I own nothing. I'm only playing with Uncle Julian and ITV's things. Spoilers for episode 5.03.

Edith ran upstairs and was very fortunately not noticed by anyone; focus was on the Russian refugees and she was not missed. She collapsed onto the bed and cried. She cried until there were no more tears. When Anna came to Madge came to dress her for dinner, she pled a headache and took to her bed, where she stayed all night, alone with her thoughts. She cried until the tears would not come; her heart was broken.

She did not go down for breakfast the next morning.

She did not go down for lunch either.

"Where is Edith?" Cora asked her husband. "Did she come down for breakfast?"

"I didn't see her. Carson?"

"No Milord, Lady Edith did not come down to breakfast. Madge took her a tray."

"I'll go up after we finish eating to check on her," Cora announced.

Cora left the dinning room and made her way to her middle daughter's bedroom and knocked. When no answer came, Cora went in. The curtains were closed and Edith was in bed, facing the wall, sobbing.

"Edith?" Cora said as she gently sat down on the bed. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Mama," she said feabily a she wiped her tears. "A headache is all."

"Edith, you've been in bed since yesterday. Had a better send for Dr. Clarkson?"

"There's nothing he can do," she whispered.

"Edith, you know you can tell me anything, don't you my darling?"

"Not this Mama," she said as the tears started to fall again, sobs wracking her body.

"Cora?" Robert called from the doorway. "Whatever is the matter with her?"

"I don't know. Darling, please tell us," Cora pleaded.

"I want my daughter back!" she cried.

"Daughter?" her parents chorused.


	2. Chapter 2

"What daughter?" Cora asked dumbly

"I have a daughter, "Edith said as she sat up, wiping her tears.

"Where is she? Who's the father?" Robert demanded.

"Her name is Marigold; she's living with the Drew's," Edith explained.

"You have a child with the pig farmer?" Robert yelled.

"No papa; her father is Michael Gregson."

"Michael Gregson your editor?" Cora asked as she took her daughter's hand.

"Who else knows?"

"Granny, Aunt Rosamund and Tim Drew know."

"You didn't go to Switzerland to improve your French, did you?" Cora asked, the pieces finally coming together.

"The plan was for me to have her and to place her for adoption is Switzerland but I couldn't stand to be away from her and always wonder about her so I went back and got her and placed her with the Drews," she explained.

"And now?" Cora asked.

"Mrs. Drew has grown suspicious and Mr. Drew has told me to stay away."

"Your grandmother knew?" Robert asked coldly.

"She did," Edith nodded.

"Excuse me," Robert announced before turning on his heel and storming out the door.

Cora kissed Edith before following her husband.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To see mama."

Before Cora could say anything else, he was down the stairs and heading towards the door.

Cora made up her mind to seek out answers of her own before turning towards her room to get her hat.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews. As requested, a bit longer and with a bit more detail. I too, like Edith am a single mom so I feel a connection to this storyline. I'll try and update every few days. And as always, nothing belongs to me.

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><p>Cora walked into the garden and looked around; it was like all the others which dotted the estate. Well maintained flower and herb beds with a substantial wash line running down above the flag stones. The clothes were in good condition, no holes or stains. Mrs. Drew was clearly a capable house keeper. She noticed a little girl's frock, cream colored with pink stitching. She gently touched the hem of the dress; it was Marigold's. The functional dress was so unlike anything Edith had worn during her childhood. Edith, who had the finest dresses made of the softest cottons for play, fine velvets for more formal occasions; and later on, there had been silks and satin, lace and pearl beading. And hats, coats, shoes and hair ribbons; all the things deemed necessary for a well-born young lady. Did little Marigold have these things, she wondered? Cora let the dress fall and walked over to the door and knocked.<p>

"Your Ladyship, what can I do for you today?" Tim Drew asked when he saw the Countess of Grantham standing on his door step. He didn't need to ask, not really; he knew why she'd come. It was only a matter of time.

"I believe you've been safe guarding something of mine."

"Lady Edith told you?"

"Indeed she did. May I see little Marigold?"

"She's out back with the other children. Follow me."

Tim led her to the back garden where the other children were playing a raucous game of tag.

"Marigold?" Tim called. The little girl toddled over to the two adults and Tim scooped her up.

"Hello Darling," Cora said gently. "You look so much like your mother with your lovely hair. May I hold her?"

Tim gently passed the child to her grandmother and led the pair over to a chair. Cora sat down, Marigold in her arms. She placed a kiss on her head.

"Lady Edith didn't say; when is her birthday?"

"November 27; she'll be 3 this year."

"Three years old; my, you'll be quite grown up my darling. Quite grown up indeed; not a baby anymore."

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><p>Robert stormed into the village, refusing to give but the briefest of nodes to those who spoke to him. He was furious at his mother, he was furious at his sister and furious with his daughter. How these women, some of those he cherished the most in this world, had in effect, lied to him. A lie by omission was still was still a lie and how they could have done this to him was unfathomable. He knocked on the door and waited for Spratt to answer. Robert walked directly into his mother's drawing room without waiting to be announced.<p>

"Robert, you were hardly raised on a canal barge…"

"I had an interesting conversation with Edith this morning. You see, my daughter, MY DAUGHTER, had taken to her bed and was not seen for 2 days. Naturally, her mother and I were worried so when we went to enquire as to was the matter, I was shocked to hear that she was pinning for child. Naturally, this came as quite a shock as I didn't know she had a daughter."

"Oh, that."

"Yes, that. And to add to this whole…situation, my youngest grandchild has apparently been in the charge of the estate pig farmer."

"What do you mean, the estate pig farmer? The child was placed with a family in Switzerland?"

"Apparently, Edith was so distraught that she went back and collected the child and gave her to Tim Drew and his wife to care for."

"I was not privy to that portion of the tale."

"How could you and Rosamund not tell me, not tell us, especially after what happened to Sybil." At his youngest daughter's name, his voice started to crack. "Had neither of you any notion that Edith could have DIED," he cried. "That Cora and I would have lost another child and have been none the wiser until a telegram arrived at the house."

"Rosamund made sure she had the best possible care; every precaution was taken."

"Apparently, Rosamund has forgotten that Edith is not her child, this is not her grandchild."

"What is to become of her? Now that the whole sordid tale has come to light?"

"That, my dear Mama, will be discussed between myself, Edith and her mother, the way the whole situation should have been handled to begin with."

And on that note, Robert turned and stormed out of his mother's house.

Robert was too angry to go back to the Abbey quite yet so he went for a walk about the estate to collect his thoughts.

Was he such in an ogre in his daughter's eyes that she felt she couldn't come to him with his? True, Edith was often overlooked, overlooked by his mother in favour of Mary and overlooked by Cora in favour of Sybil. But he always felt a bit more of a connection to Edith, she was the most like him in temperament. She, like him, had a hard time expressing her feelings, she shared the most of his interests; reading and writing. He was distraught when she broke out on her own, with her writing but he was immensely proud of his middle child. And now, she had a child of her own. He was furious of the conditions surrounding the child's birth but he was, in a way relieved that he found out after the fact. He would have aged a century during Edith's pregnancy; Sybil's grey, lifeless body would have never been far from his thought.

He walked aimlessly for almost a half hour before he realized that he was standing at the top of the path that went to Yew Tree Farm. I wouldn't look so strange, he thought, to call upon a tenant and see how the animals in his charge were fairing. It was a pleasant enough day, the type of day when one would expect children to be playing outside. He turned down the path at the back of the house. He turned the corner by the barn and froze. Cora was sitting on a chair with a little girl who was almost an exact replica of his own.

"Good afternoon Your Lordship," Tim Drew called.

"Good afternoon, how are the pigs?"

"Quite well Milord, quite well indeed."

"And who might this be?" he asked, as if it wasn't obvious.

"This is little Marigold, Milord."

Robert looked at his wife and daughter and knelt down in front of the pair. He gingerly touched her hair and smiled.

"Hello Darling."


End file.
